I am someone who believes there are no "dumb" questions. I'm not sure I have a "good" answer to your question because I never owned a Seeger long necked. For me the Ode was the "perfect" banjo-wonderful tone-good craftsmanship-I think half of what a Vega long necked cost at the time-and my memory (a long time ago) was that by the time I might have switched-mid 60's-that Vega was starting to go through lots of changes-and that their quality was suspect-(that was also my feeling about Gibson (Mastertones)-the Brothers Four had one from the mid 60's-not so good-I ended up getting a Mastertone-maybe-1971?-and played it for 25 years-sold it to a friend who claims it is the first things he would save if his house was on fire-
I am pleased that Greg Deering owns the Vega brand-I believe they are as good or better than ever-with a lot of care and craftsmanship-
There sure is a mystique to the long necked banjos-George Grove ended up having Greg Deering create a banjo with two extra frets (instead of three)-it has the look-plays great-and George says when a string breaks on stage he can change it easily and quickly-
Because of all the different styles of banjo playing in a Brothers Four show I have been happy with the sound of a 5 string with a resonator-
Maybe more than you were asking-again-thanks for your interest and your kind words-
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